Cupid Conspirisy, Part 1
by Draka Dracula
Summary: The Mainframers plot to get Bob and Dot married!
1. Default Chapter Title

Story 4  
"Cupid Conspirisy"  
  
Jo Ann, Wild Card, Matrix, AndrAIa, Ray, and Mouse were at Al's Wait 'n' Eat to discuss their latest project --namely, getting Bob and Dot married! Andri, the little game sprite that was the back-up of the now-adult AndrAIa, stood guard at the door. She would warn them if Bob or Dot was approaching.  
"Well...we need to get her mind off her work and onto Bob..." AndrAIa sighed.   
"Any ideas how?" Jo Ann asked.  
AndrAIa shrugged.  
"Thar must be some way..." Mouse mused.   
"Dot tends to follow her head, not her hormones..."   
"Well, what does she like? Anything that could be concedered romantic? Music? Flowers? Candy? That sort of thing?" Jo Ann asked. She was searching her mind frantically for something that would help.  
"Dot's a hopeless romantic..."  
"Then why is gettin' 'er to think "marriage" an' "Bob" in the same sentence so hard?" Wild Card asked. He wanted his brother to have the same happiness with Dot that Wild Card himself had with Jo Ann.  
"She's scared of losing him again..." Mouse mused.  
Jo Ann remembered what she had read about the "Web War". Bob had been sent off to the Web, betrayed by his arch-enemy, the virus Megabyte. Bob had recently returned before Jo Ann, herself, had arrived in Mainframe.   
"There must be something we can do to ease her fear enough to get her thinking of marriage," Jo Ann said.  
"Ah don't know, sugah...she's a stubborn one..."  
"Anyone know any romatic music?" AndrAIa asked.  
Matrix just shrugged. Andri ran over, "She coming!!"  
"Stay frosty, everyone," Jo Ann warned.  
Dot wandered in, looking tired and harrassed. It had been a long day.  
"Hi guys!!" she smiled, "Java, please!" She asked the waiter and walked over to the table, "What's processing? I have a meeting with Al..."  
"Right away, Dot," Al's waiter said in his slow way. "One Java, Al!"  
"WHAT!"   
"Anything new with you guys?" Dot asked.  
"No, not really," Jo Ann said, trying to look innocent.  
"We were just talking about...uh...User music. Right, Jo?" Wild Card added.  
"Yeah...uh...User music...so...It was Denice Williams that sang, "Holding Out for a Hero", not Madonna."  
Dot frowned slightly in thought; "I don't know that song. How does it go?"  
"Uh...oh dear...now how does that song go?" Jo Ann thought out loud. "'Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a firey steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need! I need a hero...' That's all I can remember right now."  
"Sounds nice..." an almost wistful look crossed Dot's face.  
Jo Ann exchanged looks with Wild Card, Matrix, and the others. This is the kind of song that made Dot think of Bob, maybe?  
AndrAIa grinned excitedly; "What other sort of songs do you Users listen to?"  
"All kinds," Jo Ann smiled. "Rock 'n' Roll, Country 'n' Western, Pop, Ethnic...just all kinds of music. The Users say that music is the Universal Language, because it speaks to all people, no matter what their ethnic background is."   
"But love songs are popular?" AndrAIa asked pointedly.  
"Oh, yes! Love songs are some of the most popular of User music!" Jo Ann agreed instantly.  
Dot took a sip of her java that the waiter had just brought and half-smiled, "Love ballads are fun to dance to..."  
"Yes, they are, aren't they," Jo Ann said. "My favorites are the ones from Disney films. Like, 'Some Day My Prince Will Come', from Snow White, or, 'Once Upon a Dream', from Sleeping Beauty, or. 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight', from the Lion King. Disney films seem to have the best love songs."  
"Weren't some of those also games?" Mouse asked.  
"The movies came first, Mouse," Jo Ann pointed out.   
"If ya say so, sugah..."  
"Sayyy...Dot," Jo Ann redirected the subject. "Have you ever thought of putting in a Karaoke Club?"  
"No...but that could be fun..." she mused.  
"'Karaoke'?" AndrAIa asked. "What's that?"  
"Karaoke is a popular activity in Japan where you get to be the singer of popular songs, usually to a recording of the music," Jo Ann explained.  
"Neat!" the game sprite grinned, "Sparky is a great singer..."  
"He is?" Jo Ann looked at the green warrior in surprise. "I never knew that!" she grinned.  
Matrix glared at AndrAIa, "She's exaggerating..." he lied.  
"Matrix...a singer...I wouldn't mind hearing him sing..." Jo Ann smiled.  
"I don't sing..." the renegade looked vaguely embarrassed.  
"Oh, come on..." Jo Ann smiled encouragingly at him.  
"I used to sing to AndrAIa when we were lost in the games..." he admitted.  
"You have a beautiful voice," she gazed adoringly at him.  
"What kind of songs did he sing?" Jo Ann asked. Now, she was really interested. This was a fawcet of Matrix that had never been discovered.  
Matrix shot AndrAIa a warning look. She gently touched his hand. "Sweet, romantic songs...with happy endings..."  
"Aww...that's nice," Jo Ann smiled. She looked lovingly at Wild Card.   
"Thanks so much for ruining my touch guy image, 'DrAIa!" Matrix teased.  
Dot sighed wistfully, "I have a meeting with Al...catch you guys when I'm done..."  
"Okay..." Jo Ann said. "I wonder if Bob can sing..."  
"He can..." Mouse smiled. "He and ah were on a date in the SC once...well; let's just say the Guardian has a gorgeous voice, honey..."  
"Does that mean you can sing, too, love?" Jo Ann asked her husband.  
"Never tried..." Wild Card demured.  
"Will you some time? For me?" she asked.   
Wild Card looked at her warmly, "Maybe. Eventually. When we're alone."  
"Ummmm...I look forward to it," she smiled, nuzzling his neck.  
AndrAIa snuggled into Matrix, "Sing for me?"  
"Here?!"  
"Why not?"  
Jo Ann pretended not to hear them. She kept nuzzling and kissing Wild Card. But she was interested in hearing Matrix sing. It might help their plans by giving them more ideas.  
"Please, Sparky?"  
"Oh, alright..." Softly in a mellow, velvety voice the renegade began to sing "Endless Love". The game sprite joined in, singing the female part with her lyric, expressive voice.  
Jo Ann listened. Matrix did have a beautiful singing voice! So did AndrAIa. Her mind wondered how Bob and Wild Card would sound.  
Matrix had pitched his voice so he thought that only AndrAIa would hear. When they finshed their beautiful duet, all the patrons of Al's started to applaud.  
Jo Ann turned toward Matrix and AndrAIa. She and Wild Card joined in with the applause.  
"That was beautiful, guys!" Jo Ann smiled.  
Matrix blushed, surprising them all.  
"Told ya, Sparky -- you're incredible..." AndrAIa smiled.  
"What about you, darlin'?" Wild Card asked his bride. This caught Jo Ann unprepared.  
"Well...uh...I..." was all she could stammer out.  
"Can you sing?" Wild Card grinned, taking her hand.  
"Well...a little..." Now, it was Jo Ann's turn to blush.  
Wild Card pressed his lips into the palm of Jo Ann's hand.   
"Oh? Sing something for me..."  
Jo Ann took a deep breath, then began to sing, "Sugar, Suger," by the Archies. Luckily, she could change the line, "You are my candy girl," to, "You are my candy boy," without any trouble. It was one of those songs that could be sung like that. She made sure to sing it directly to Wild Card.  
Wild Card grinned broadly.  
When she finished the song, Jo Ann kissed her man on the lips. When they parted, she looked down and smiled, blushing.  
AndrAIa and Matrix led the applause.  
"Way to go, Jo Ann!" Matrix cheered.  
"Maybe we can form a band," Jo Ann joked. "The Mainframe Rockers?"   
"We'd have to get Dot to join...she makes quite the torch singer...I remember she made Bob blush by singing to him once..." Matrix smiled.  
"I was only joking, Matrix!" Jo Ann laughed. "When would we find the time to be a band? "  
"In between saving tha system and match-makin', sugar..." Mouse laughed.  
"Even we couldn't do that!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"She's back..." Andri hissed, spotting Dot coming downstairs.  
"Okay, Andri, thanks!" Jo Ann whispered. Out loud, as if it had been the topic of discussion all along, she said, "The Karaoke thing is a good idea. We sure have a lot of talent here. Maybe we could even get Bob to sing something!" Jo Ann made sure that Dot could hear her.  
Dot giggled as she walked over, "If you get Bob to sing, I promise I will too..."  
"This will be fun...but we'll need some equipment, first," Jo Ann said.  
"I'll get some organised," Dot promised.  
"Okay. And let's not forget to ask Bob to sing. I, for one, would love to hear that!" Jo Ann smiled.  
"Me too..." Dot grinned.  
"But where are we going to set it up? Is there room at the Diner for one?" AndrAIa asked.  
"We should have a stage..." Jo Ann put in.  
"Ummm...I am buying the old club in Kits from Al...maybe there..." Dot thought aloud.  
"Hey! Great idea!" Jo Ann cried. "We could make it a Karaoke Club! But what would we call it?"   
"I have no idea!! You guys think of something!! I have to run -- I have a meeting back at the PO!!" Dot called, hugging everyone and leaving.  
"Bye Al!!"  
"WHAT?!"  
"Later, Dot!" Jo Ann called after her. "Step one: Complete. We have her thinking about music and singing. Step two: Get Bob interested in music and singing."  
AndrAIa grinned -- "Simple ; Enzo-- do you have any JPGs from your birthday? that time Dot sang to you and Bob?  
"How is that goin' to help get Bob intereted in singin'?" Wild Card asked.  
"You never saw the red dress..." AndrAIa grinned. She remembered Enzo telling her about it when she was young.  
Jo Ann used Pixal to show Wild Card the dress from the data she had gained from the data crystal about Megabyte that Dot had given her. Wild Card gave a low whistle.  
"Yeah...that would get him interested in singin' alright. But why would it make him want to sing, too?"  
"Perhaps we can mention that Dot has agreed ta sing again if he will?" Mouse suggested.  
"Let's get her to agree to it, first, Mouse," Jo Ann said. "I don't like lying...especially to my friends."  
"She just said she'd sing if you can get Bob to..." AndrAIa smiled.  
"Yeah...she did...didn't she? But who's going to ask him? Should I?" Jo Ann asked. "I'll see him when we have 'Portal Practice', as we call it. My portals are still not under control."  
"Do it!"  
"Okay. Practice will be at Floating Point Park tomorrow. Maybe if I come singing something...any old song will do..." Jo Ann smiled as she thought out her plan.  
"Alphanumeric..." Andri giggled.  
"Well...maybe not that song," Jo Ann giggled. "I don't know it very well."  
"Okay... "  
"Sing a love song..." AndrAIa suggested, "something that'll make him think of Dot..."  
"Good idea...but what song..."  
"Ummm..." Matrix thought for a while.  
"It's gotta be a song I know, of course, and one that I know well enough to sing..."  
"Something about coming home... Matrix mused.  
"...to the girl he loves..." AndrAIa added.  
"I don't think I know of any songs like that," Jo Ann admitted.   
"Ummm...a love song then...""  
"That's a tough one: Most of the love songs I know are from Disney films..."  
"Such as?"  
"The ones I mentioned, of course, and others. The problem with many of them, though, is that they have a specific character in mind."  
"What about 'A Whole New World'? Or...umm..."  
"No...Hmmm...I think I know a non-Disney song I could sing. 'Let's Hear it for the Boy', from the Footloose soundtrack. It's about a woman singing the praises about her man. Hmm...on second thought, why don't we let Dot have that song to sing to Bob. And if we can get them to sing a duet, maybe they could sing, 'Almost Paradise', from the same soundtrack."  
"You'd have to teach them." AndrAIa smiled, "but it could be worth i--"  
"Warning; Incoming Guardian!!" Andri called.  
"Thanks, Andri," Jo Ann said.  
Andri giggled, "Hey, Bob!"  
"Hi, Andri; guys. What's new?" Bob grinned.  
"Not much, sugah..." Mouse smiled, "Why dontcha have a drink with us?"  
"Sure," Bob grinned. "One quantam shake, please!" Bob said to Al's waiter.  
"One quantam shake, Al!"  
"WHAT?!?"  
Bob shook his head, laughing slightly. "Have you guys seen Dot? She's so busy lately..."  
"She was here, but she had ta leave, bro," Wild Card said.  
"Why don't you ask him, now, JoJo?" Matrix asked.  
"Now?!?"  
"Yeah, now!"  
"Ask me what?" Bob smiled.  
"Well, we got Dot to thinking about putting in a Karaoke Club in the club that's she's buying from Al. That's where customers can sing to popular songs. And we got to singing for each other. And we were wondering, if Dot sang, would you?"  
"Umm...yeah; why not!!" Bob shrugged. "If it'll get Dot to take a night off..."  
"Will you for us, now? I'd like to hear you sing something," Jo Ann asked.  
"Now?!"   
"Yeah!" Jo Ann smiled at her brother-in-law. "Please?"  
"Umm..." Bob thought for a while and then began a beautiful rendition of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing". His voice was rich and smooth.  
Jo Ann listened eagerly. She wondered how his voice and Dot's would sound in a duet.  
Bob took a quick bow as he finished the song  
This time, Jo Ann led the applause.  
"Thanks!!"  
"That was wonderful, Bob!" AndrAIa smiled.  
"Thank-you...d'ya think Dot'll like it?"  
"She sure would! And if I teach you two the song, 'Almost Paradise', would you maybe sing a duet with her?"  
"Dot and I sing a duet...I like that idea..."  
"It's a beautiful song. But let me ask her if she would do the duet thing."  
"Darlin'" Wild Card warned. "It's very late, and you have...uh...Portal Practice tomorrow. We need to be gettin' home ta bed."  
"You're right, dearest. Please excuse us, guys." Jo Ann and Wild Card rose from their seats.  
"Night, Jo Ann..." they all called.  
"Night, guys!" She called after her as she and Wild Card left Al's.  
  
Bob waited in Floating Point Park for Jo Ann to arrive.   
Jo Ann flew to Floating Point Park, singing the song, "Zip-a-dee-doo-da Day" as her zipboard neared the place where Bob waited for her.  
Looking up, Bob noticed the User Guardian approaching.   
"Hey, Jo Ann!"  
"Hi, Bob!" Jo Ann smiled. She then continued with the last part of the song, finishing it up in her own, uniquie style.  
Bob clapped at Jo's song and then grinned. "Ready for practise?"  
Jo Ann bowed at Bob's applause, then said, "Sure am."  
"Great!" Bob smiled at her and began.  
Bob had Jo Ann concentrate on making a portal. He had her to make it small, so she would not slip through. The silver sphere that formed was about one foot in height, and it showed the Super Computer inside of it.  
"See...you're coming along well..." he smiled warmly.  
Jo Ann grinned at her brother-in-law. Now, he began to show her how to flip through the portal codes to find whatever system or dimention she could ever want.  
"Let's try a portal to...System Omega..."  
"System Omega? Where's that?" Jo Ann asked, courious.  
"It's the system right on the brink of the Web..." Bob explained. "Its kind of hard to make a portal that far; so consider this a test..."  
"Okay." Jo Ann had only arrived in Mainframe a few minutes ago, and she had not been to many systems yet. The Super Computer, the alternate Mainframe where Naomi and Echo now lived, Neversystem --the children's system-- the Web, the Tandium Desert, and Videoland was all that she had ever been to.   
"This may be a bit of a strain on your powers so go easy..."  
"Okay..." Jo Ann concentrated carefully, gently willing the sphere to flip through the systems. "Tell me when we get to it, Bob."  
Bob waited. Omega was the furthest system from anywhere.  
Jo Ann flipped through several systems, catching a glimpse of Neversystem along the way. She momentaritly stopped at it before going on.  
Bob smiled as Jo finally reached the dark grey system that was Omega.  
"That's it...I was taken in there once..."  
"It looks spooky..." Jo Ann said. "Like it's haunted, or something."  
"No; its just a sad place..."   
"What happened?"  
"I was injured in the Web; and the Webriders took me to this place to see a healer..." Bob told her. "These people are contantly under the threat of invasion from the Web. No-one in the SC even knows about this place..."  
"Can't you tell Turbo? Surely, he would help them," Jo Ann said.  
"It's a high-risk system..." Bob's voice trailed off as a figure wearing a black cape walked past the portal.  
"Who --or what-- was that?" Jo Ann exclaimed in surprise.  
"That was the healer..." Bob whispered. "She saved my bitmap..."  
"Oh," Jo Ann replied. She knew better then make comments about people who saved other people's lives. She did not want to offend her "brother".  
Bob's eyes followed the figure. "Expand the portal," he told Jo.  
"Okay. Tell me when to stop." Slowly, Jo Ann began to expand the portal, making it grow larger.  
When it was big enough to walk through, Bob smiled.  
"Stop; now come on -- we're going to Omega..."  
"Okay." Jo Ann followed Bob through the portal.  
[Wait up!!] Bob called in Web-rider to the departing figure.   
[Who?] The cloak spun as the figure turned. [Interface?]  
Jo Ann looked at the figure. She wondered who this healer was.  
[Yeah, its me] Bob told her.  
[Oh Interface...you came back...you really came back!] She threw her arms around Bob and held him close. Her hood slid down revealing a beautiful young woman, with only one eye -- a web scar bisecting the other one.  
Jo Ann watched the scene. Something in the back of her mind hoped that Dot would not ever see this!  
[Are we going leave; like you promised?] The healer asked.  
[What's she talking about, Bob?] Jo Ann asked in Web Rider. She looked from one to the other in confusion.  
[Oh...I did not see you...] the woman smiled at Jo Ann. [Is this Dot, Bob?]  
Jo Ann giggled a little. [No, I'm not Dot. I am Jo Ann Montgomery, User Guardian One, and Bob's sister-in-law,] she smiled.  
The woman frowned slightly and turned back to Bob, [Are you here to fulfill your promise, Interface?]  
[I am...]  
[What promice? ] Jo Ann asked. [Is Mainframe getting new citizens?]  
[Interface promised to help me leave Omega...]  
[Oh...okay. What's your name?] Jo Ann asked.  
"My name," The young woman spoke in standard, "is Monitor..."  
"As long as we are also using Web Rider names, mine amoung them is [Jem]," Jo Ann smiled. "I'm pleased to meet you, Monitor."  
[Hello, Jem.] Monitor smiled warmly, but held onto Bob.  
[Is anyone else coming?] Jo Ann asked.  
[Is Status...?]  
[He was deleted, Interface...They killed my brother...] A single tear rolled from Monitor's single eye.  
Jo Ann hung her head in sorrow. She had not known this "Status" or Monitor, or any of their people, but she felt the loss as she would have felt the loss of one of her Mainframe friends.   
Bob hugged Monitor, [I'm sorry...] he told her.   
She held him close; getting strength from his arms.  
[It was horrible...oh, Interface...]  
Jo Ann gulped. So much sadness and pain, unlike the nearly care-free system of Mainframe, and the incrediable Super Computer.  
[Monitor...I...]  
[Shhh...please Interface -- just hold me.]  
Jo Ann looked around her, intent on allowing Bob and Monitor to moarn their loss in peace.  
[Let's get you out of this place...] Bob smiled at the young healer. Monitor went onto her tip-toes and kissed Bob briefly on the lips, [Lets.]  
Jo Ann's portal was still there. She led Bob and Monitor through it.  
Monitor squinted, her eye unused to the bright light of Mainframe.  
Jo Ann felt good to be home. She breathed in heavily the clean air and basked in the warmth of what served Mainframe as a sun. But the gray place that was Omega would haunt her for a very long time.  
"This is your home?" Monitor spoke in standard; her voice low, almost husky -- but definatly unused to communicating in that language.  
"Yes. I came here not too long ago to help a dying friend. In helping her, I became trapped in Mainframe. I have since accepted it as my home. I've even married a sprite! Bob's twin brother, Wild Card!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"Is he as handsome as Interface?" Monitor asked, smiling warmly at Bob.  
"Well, he looks like him when he did before Bob was sent to the Web, but he has gold hair and a stubble beard. But I think that he's very handsome."  
"What did you look like before the web, Interface?" Monitor remembered the first time she had seem Bob -- badly burned and web-scarred; half-deleted.  
Bob blushed. He turned to see Wild Card, Dot, Matrix, AndrAIa, Mouse, Ray, little Enzo, Andri, and Frisket approuching them.  
"Take a look at that blue-skinned, golden-haired guy, and that'll give you a pretty good idea!" Bob answered.  
[He is cute...]  
Jo Ann smiled, love in her eyes.  
AndrAIa and Matrix approached, "Hello, Ms...?"  
Jo Ann kissed Wild Card, allowing Bob to make the introductions ...and explainations.  
"Oh..." AndrAIa noticed the way Monitor was looking at Bob. She had a bad feeling about that...Could it cause trouble for the Cupid Conspirators?  
Bob, Jo Ann told him mentally. You'd better explain Monitor. They may think that you are interested in her, instead of Dot.  
"Monitor saved my life a long time ago..." Bob explained to the group.  
"Oh...Okay...Thanks, Monitor!" Dot smiled.  
Monitor smiled, "You are...Dot?" She asked.  
"Yes," the green-skined woman smiled.  
"When Bob was delirious, he would call out your name in the night.." Monitor told her.  
Dot wrapped her arm around Bob's waist. She looked into his eyes, trying not to think of the terrible wounds he must have suffered in the Web.  
Bob squeezed Dot, and a flicker of jealousy crossed Monitor's face.  
Jo Ann noticed the tiny flash of jealousy in Monitor's eyes. She hoped that this would not mean trouble for the others and their wedding plans for Bob and Dot.  
"I was not sure he would survive..." Monitor told them. "He was badly wounded; lesser sprites would have given up..."  
"Not Bob!" little Enzo exclaimed excitedly. "He's a Guardian! He can survive anything! Nothing can stop him! Not even a super virus!"  
Monitor smiled at the boy, "The, " She used the webrider term for 'web-creature'and looked to Bob to translate.  
"Web Creature," he supplied.  
"Web-creatures had drained his energy and the energy fluctuations had nearly deleted him. My brother brought him to me, to see if I could help him..."  
"Where's your brother!" cried Enzo. "I wanna meet him..." Enzo trailed off when he senced something wrong. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.  
"Status was deleted by a web-creature..." Monitor told him, sorrow filling her single eye.  
"Uh...oh..." Enzo gulped. "I...I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say anything to make you sad..."  
"Do not worry, little sprite...I am more happy now to be out of Omega than I have ever been before... "  
"Omega..." Enzo looked to Andri. What was that their teacher had said about Omega only a few seconds ago...?  
"Omega?" Andri looked at little Enzo; that seemed a familer name  
"Isn't Omega that system that..." Enzo whispered to Andri.  
"Yes.." she whispered back. "I thought it was made up, though..."  
"What did you think was made up, Andri?" Bob asked.  
"Oh, nothing!!" Andri smiled her innocent little girl smile.  
Somehow, Bob did not think that was what Andri was talking with little Enzo about, but let it go. He was wondering where Monitor was going to live, now that she was moving to Mainframe.  
Dot squeezed Bob's hand. It hurt her to think of him in pain.  
"Do you know where Monitor can stay, Dot? Maybe in the Principle Office? She's a great healer. I'm sure Phong could use her help in the sickbay," Bob said. He wanted his friend to have a place in Mainframe.  
"Certainly, Bob." Dot grinned; a slight flicker of -- was it jealousy?-- crossing her face. She wasn't sure about this Monitor, wasn't sure at all!  
Bob noticed the flicker on Dot, and immediantly kissed her, as if in reassurance.  
Dot wrapped her arms around Bob possessively and deepened the embrace.  
Jo Ann smiled. Maybe the Cupid Conspitors could salvage this yet! She hugged her own man closer to her.  
Monitor sighed and scratched the place where her right eye once was. It bothered her every now and then.  
"You, too, huh?" Matrix smiled. He pointed to his own right eye, now a golden orb. "Mine did too."  
"What happened to you?" Monitor asked; finding herself surprisingly willing to share the story of what happened to her.  
"I played a game I couldn't win when I was younger. I lost it to Zaytan. AndrAIa, Frisket, and I stayed with the game in Game Sprite Mode, game hopping until we found a system with ports to the Net. From there, we went to the Web, found Bob, and came home to Mainframe," Matrix said simply.  
Monitor bit her lip, "I was nearly ripped apart by a web-creature... Interface saved me..." she smiled.  
"We saved each other," Bob smiled. "Thanks to you, I'm back with my friends and the woman I love."  
Monitor inhaled sharply. "Yes...I am pleased you're happy..."  
"Thank you," Bob said.  
"Yes...thank you," Dot added.  
"You are...welcome" she sighed and muttered something in Web-rider too rapidly for either Jo Ann or Bob to catch.  
Jo Ann looked at Bob and shrugged.  
"I am...tired." Monitor sighed.  
"I'll take you to the Principle Office. You can meet Phong in the morning," Dot said.  
"Thank-you, Dot," Monitor's tone was flat.  
Dot and Monitor left for the Principle Office.  
"That will be all for this second's lesson, Jo Ann," Bob said.  
"Thanks, bro," Jo Ann smiled, and kissed his cheek. She went off with the other Cupid Conpiritors to Al's to plot some more. Monitor's arrival in Mainframe could cause a Cupid Crisis!  



	2. Cupid Conspirisy, Part 2

Cupid Conspirisy, Part 2

* * *

AndrAIa groaned, "Why did she have to show up now?!" she wailed  
"What are we going to do?" Jo Ann asked.  
"I know what I'd like to do..." AndrAIa muttered.  
"Hey; ease off -- she's not so bad..." Matrix said.  
"And she did save Bob's life," Wild Card put in.  
"Men!" Mouse rolled her eyes.  
"Wait, let's not jump to conclutions. Bob did seem to be tellin' Monitor that he loves Dot," Ray said.  
"Yes...and she got all pouty round about then." AndrAIa told them.  
"What if we could find Monitor a guy of her own?' Jo Ann asked.  
"This conspiracy is foh Bob and Dot...Ah don' wanna getta rep as a match-maka..." Mouse pointed out.  
"Think of it as a part of the conspiracy to save Bob and Dot's romance, then," Jo Ann said. "If --and I'm not saying that she will-- if Monitor should start trying to steal Bob away from Dot, wouldn't it be best to divert her attention with another man?"  
"Who? Face it sugah; there's a deficit of cute available men around here..." Mouse sighed.  
"What about...the Super Computer?" Jo Ann asked thoughtfully.  
"Like who? Turbo?" AndrAIa said sarcastically.  
"Turbo, maybe?" Jo Ann smiled.  
"I was being sarcastic!!" the game sprite protested.  
"I know. But maybe Turbo would make a good steady for her. Plus, if he's sweet on her, he just might decide to help her system."  
AndrAIa smiled and chuckled slightly  
"What?" Jo Ann laughed.  
"Nothing...romance can happen for the strangest reasons..."  
"True. But as long as it's 'True Love', then it's okay," Jo Ann grinned.  
"Yeah...but love can blossom some strange ways; can't it, Sparky?" AndrAIa gave Matrix a pointed look.  
Jo Ann smiled. She knew where the general area the two were in when their love began to blossom.  
"Well...how are we gonna set up the Prime and the refugee?" Mouse asked.  
"That's the tough part," Jo Ann admitted. "Invite them both to a Karaoke party?"  
"Turbo doin' karaoke?!!" Mouse cackled.  
"I didn't say that he had to do it, I just meant that he could meet her there! Karaoke is on a vollenter basis."  
Mouse was in stitches, laughing so hard. "That is such a funny image, sugah..."  
"Course, for all we know, Turbo may be one of the best singers on the Net," Jo Ann smiled. "Maybe we could get him to sing a couple of Marty Robbins songs."  
Matrix guffawed.  
"Come on! With his voice, Turbo would be perfectly comfortable with County-Western music!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"Ah guess..." Matrix did a perfect imitation of the Prime Guardian, which AndrAIa just hooted in laughter at.  
Jo Ann laughed with her friends. But still, having Turbo meet Monitor at a Karaoke party, and maybe get Bob and Dot closer to marriage.  
Andri sat down on Matix's lap.  
"Let's see," Jo Ann said. "What are some good Marty Robbins songs: Ballard of the Allamo; El Paso; El Paso City; Big Iron; Running Gun; Fastest Gun Around..."   
AndrAIa just chuckled; "What about Garth Brook's 'The Dance'? That's kinda romantic..."  
"Uh...I was just thinking Cowboy songs, AndrAIa. I wasn't thinking of romantic Cowboy songs...Hmmm..." Jo Ann said thoughfully.  
"Well; if the karioke is meant to me romantic..." the game sprite grinned.  
"You're right...romantic cowboy songs...Hmmm...unfortunately, I'm only familuer with the older singing cowboys, so I'm really don't know many --if any-- cowboy love songs..."  
"What are search engines for?" AndrAIa looked at Ray.  
Ray was caught totally off guard.  
"Searching the Net for..." His eyes went wide as he caught the game-sprite's meaning.  
"What?" Wild Card asked.  
"Ray, you have to!!" AndrAIa pleaded.  
"You mean you want Ray to search for Romantic Cowboy songs?" Jo Ann asked.  
"Yes..." she smiled broadly.  
"Ray, please?" Jo Ann added her pleas to AndrAIa's.  
AndrAIa shot Ray her most dazzling smile, "Please?"  
"Ray, sugah, we need ta know those songs!" Mouse added her pleas, now.  
"Okay, okay..." The Surfer raised his hands, giving in.  
"Thanks, sugah!" Mouse grinned, giving her boyfriend a huge hug and a big kiss.  
"Anything for you, luv..."  
"Okay, that's settled. Now, how are we going to talk Turbo into coming...?" Jo Ann asked.  
"I have no idea..." AndrAIa admitted.  
"Maybe he'll come for his User Guardian..." Matrix grinned at Jo Ann.  
"Maybe," Wild Card agreed.  
"M...m...m...me? Why would he come if I ask him?" Jo Ann stammered.  
"You are the User Guardian, dear..."  
"That doesn't mean he'll come to a party if I ask him to come."  
"He will...or we can let him into the Cupid Conspiracy."  
"Well...he does want to see Bob and Dot married off..." Jo Ann said thoughtfully.  
"It should work..." AndrAIa grinned.  
"Alright," Jo Ann sighed. "I'll tell Turbo all about it and see if I can get him to join us. I just hope he'll do it."  
"He will..."  
"I hope so...I hope so..."  
"Have a little faith..."  
"When should I call him up and tell him?" Jo Ann asked.  
"Now is good."   
"But don't let AndrAIa rush you," Matrix added.  
"Just hurry!" Andri put in.  
"Pixal! Vid-window! Contact Turbo!" Jo Ann commanded.  
The keytool complied, "What can ah do foah ya, Jo Ann?"  
"Turbo, how would you like to help us get Bob and Dot married off?" Jo Ann asked.  
"That's an unusual request...but ah would..."  
"Great! Now here's what we've got planned so far..." Jo Ann told all that had happened since the first meeting of the Cupid Conspiritors. She delebratly left out any of the plans to get Turbo hooked up with Monitor, although she did explain about her, and said that Turbo might like to meet her.  
"Okay; ya need to get that gal away from Bob...sounds like she's sweet on him..."  
"Yeah, but gently. She saved Bob's life, and she seems nice. We just want to make sure that Dot gets Bob," Jo Ann said.  
"All's fair in love and war..." Turbo smiled.  
"True," Jo Ann smiled back. "By the way, Turbo...Can you sing?"  
"What?"  
"The party is going to be Karaoke. That's were you can get up and sing in front of everybody, if you wanted to. I was wondering if you can sing."  
"Ah guess Ah could try..."  
"Great!" Jo Ann grinned. "I'd love to hear you sing!" And I bet Monitor would love it, too, she thought to herself.  
Turbo grinned, "Don't expect too much a me..."  
"That's okay. It's all for fun...and love!" Jo Ann winked at the newest member of the Cupid Conspiricy.  
"All For Love...now there's a song..." Turbo smiled.  
"What?" Matrix asked.  
"Its a really sweet song...'All For One; And All For Love', " Turbo explained.  
"Sounds like it might be from 'The Three Musketeers'," Jo Ann said.  
"It was..."  
"Sounds good. And...oh...I know another good song. 'Everything I Do (I Do For You)', from 'Robin Hood, Prince of Theives'," Jo Ann smiled.  
"Oooh...I love it!" AndrAIa exclaimed.  
"Hmmm...Disney ain't the only place to find love songs..." Wild Card grinned.  
"Films are great inspiration...what about 'I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You' from Zorro..."  
"I didn't get to see that one, I'm afraid. Is it pretty?" Jo Ann asked.  
"Its beautiful -- all about romance and dancing and commitment..."  
"Oooo...I think I like it, and I haven't even heard it yet!" Jo Ann laughed.  
"It's beautiful..."   
"How about, 'Be True to Your Heart', from Mulan?" Jo Ann asked.  
"I don't know it..."  
"It's very pretty. I have the CD. We'll listen to it, sometime."  
"Neat"  
"Anyone know any other songs?" Jo Ann asked.  
"Ummm..."  
"Good question, darlin," Wild Card said.  
"I'll think about some," AndrAIa smiled.  
"Okay," Jo Ann smiled at her friend.  
"Well, it's about time to hit the sack," Wild Card said. "See ya tomorrow, everybody!"  
"G'night guys!" AndrAIa hugged Jo Ann and Wild Card.  
"Good night, and sweet dreams." Jo Ann hugged and kissed Matrix, AndrAIa, Mouse, Ray and Andri. She blew a kiss to Turbo over the vid-window. "Night, Turbo."  
"Night kids!" Turbo smiled and closed the vid-window.  
Jo Ann and Wild Card left, returning to their apartment. They tip-toed past Bob's apartment on the way in.  
  
Dot and Bob tried to arrange a place for Monitor to stay, but no where was forthcoming at such short notice, so Bob gave up his appartment for the time being. He would stay with Dot...  
"Bob's staying with Dot?!?" Jo Ann asked when she heard the news. She grinned at Matrix, who had told her. The Cupid Conspirtors were having their meeting at the usual spot --Al's.  
AndrAIa smiled broadly, "That's what Monitor told me. I nearly died when I went to go see Bob nad she answered the door in her night-gown though.  
"Yikes!" Jo Ann shrieked. "That's enough to give one a core.com attack!"  
"I nearly had a fit!" the game sprite laughed, "I thought the Cupid Conspiracy was doomed!"  
"Thank goodness it was a false alarm!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"Amen!" Matrix agreed.  
"I wonder how Bob and Dot are getting along, now that they are living in the same apartment," Jo Ann mused.  
"User knows...I wonder if he's staying in your old room, Enzo, or if they're..." Mouse let her voice trail off suggestively.  
"At this point in time, let's hope it's Matrix's old room. We don't want to rush them too quickly," Jo Ann said.  
"Ah don't know sugah..." Mouse grinned broadly.  
"We got them in the same apartment. Let's take a little time before we get them in the same bed," Jo Ann replied.  
AndrAIa giggled and Matrix hugged her.  
Next to get married --after Bob and Dot-- will be THOSE two, I hope, Jo Ann thought to herself.  
"Sorry ah'm late!" Turbo's vid-window appeared.  
"That's okay. We got some news, but we'll let you be the judge whether it's good or bad," Jo Ann said. She updated Turbo on Bob and Dot's new situation.  
Turbo laughed, clapping his hands; "Do y'all know whether they're...?"  
"No, we don't," Jo Ann admitted. "Would it be a good thing if they were?"  
"What do you think?! Bob's a gentleman -- they'd be married soon if they were..."   
"Hmmm...In that case, maybe they should..." Wild Card grinned.  
AndrAIa laughed softly and nuzzleed Matrix's neck.  
"Yes...But how would you get them to...?" Jo Ann asked.  
"This is kind of an...invasive discussion..." the game sprite commented.  
"Huh?!?" Wild Card looked at her, puzzled.  
"Talking about how to get Bob and Dot to...ummm...y'know..." she demurred.  
"What to do, what to do..." Jo Ann mused.  
"What are we gonna do about Monitor?"  
"Let's get Bob and Dot hitched, first. Then we'll worry about Monitor," Turbo said.  
"Okay...I hope they're getting on..."  
"...and on, and on, and on..." Wild Card grinned.  
"Wild Card!!" Jo Ann playfully chided her husband.  
Matrix chuckled and AndrAIa, hiding her amusement moaned, "Ma-trix!!"  
Wild Card had wrapped his arms around Jo Ann, and was now nuzzling her in the way she liked.  
"Wild Card!" she laughed.   
Mouse and Ray exchanged a glance.  
Jo Ann pressed her lips onto Wild Card's, giving him a long and deep kiss.  
"Young lurve..." Mouse grinned.  
When they parted, Jo Ann surprised Wild Card by nuzzling his neck. His blue skin felt soft and warm. She kissed his neck several times.  
"Can we get back on topic, kids?" Turbo asked.  
"Oh!" Jo Ann turned back to the others, startled.   
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.  
Turbo smiled at her.  
"This isn't something I plan every second, guys!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"What are we gonna do?!"  
"I'm open to sugestions!!"  
"You, know," Jo Ann said, "maybe we should find out if they are...you know. We may be worring about nothing, as far as the sleeping arrangements are concerned."  
"How can we do that without...ew...!" AndrAIa asked.  
"What?" Jo Ann asked the game sprite.  
"How can we find out about...sleeping arrangemnets without...spying on them?"  
"Hex and Scuzzy?" Jo Ann suggested, smiling.  
AndrAIa just shuddered.  
"Scuzzy can get in there unnoticed, and find out if they are. He only needs to stay a few nanos, that's all," Jo Ann pointed out.  
"Yeah but...ewww..."  
"What?!?"  
"What if they're...?"  
"Making out?"  
"Yeah..." AndrAIa pulled a face.  
"Only one of us needs to look," Jo Ann said. "You don't fave to if you don't want to. I'll do it."  
"Thanks...!" Matrix hugged AndrAIa. "You're so sensitive, 'DrAIa.."  
"No problem, guys," Jo Ann smiled.  
"Lets do it!" Matrix grinned.  
"Pixal! Vid-window! Contact Hex!" Jo Ann commanded. The vid-window appeared.  
"Hellllooo there!"  
"Hi, Hex!" Jo Ann smiled. "We need the help of you and Scuzzy." Quickly, Jo Ann explained what was needed.  
"Oooooohhh...that's evil. I like it!!"  
"The purpose isn't for something evil, Hex! We need to know because, if they are, it means that Bob is going to purpose soon!" Jo Ann grinned.  
"That would be sweet..."  
"Hey," Wild Card said. "The sooner he does, the better!" The bounty hunter grinned broadly.  
Hex grinned. "Sure...when?"  
"Tonight, if possible," Jo Ann said. "We need the information as soon as we can get it. Just don't let Bob, Dot, little Enzo, or Monitor know about this. Or Mike, the T.V." Jo Ann shuttered at what Mike would do if he found out about the Cupid Conspiricy.  
"User- not Mike!!" AndrAIa cackled, and launched into a flawless imitation of the annoying tv; "This just in...Frustrated by the lack of 'action' between the COMMAND.COM and the Guardian, a group of their 'friends' are conspiring to match make..."  
Jo Ann laughed and leaned back against Wild Card, who was also laughing.  
"Will these 'friends' manage to get out favourite couple to 'tie the knot'? The 'Cupid Conspiracy' has had a spanner thrown in the works -- her name is Monitor. Cute, lonely and very attracted to Guardian 452, she represents a threat to the conspiracy that could never have been anticipated..." AndrAIa continued. Matrix was hooting with laughter.  
"That's Mike, alright!" Jo Ann said whenever she stopped to to take a breath. Then, she would continue laughing. Finally, out of breath, she stopped and leaned on Wild Card's shoulder.  
AndrAIa's eyes sparkled, "Keep your ears out for an update...this is Mike the TV. Out!" She started to giggle herself as she finished.  
"Maybe AndrAIa can be Mike's co-anchor on the news!" Ray laughed.  
"User forbid!!" AndrAIa laughed.  
Ray laughed even harder.  
"We have Guardian sign!" Andri warned from her post at the door.  
The group were still laughing hard as an irritated Bob entered Al's.  
"Hi, Bob!" Jo Ann giggled. "That was a great joke, Matrix! Really funny!"  
"I could use some humour," Bob sighed. "What was the joke?"  
"These three guys walk into this room at an old house. Two skeletons are sitting at a table, with a chess board between them. One skeleton is looking at the other, and says, 'Come on! Make your move! Don't just sit there like yer dead!" Matrix grinned.   
A smile came across Bob's face, he chuckled and then sighed.  
"What's wrong, sugah?" Mouse asked.  
"Dot and I had this argument..." he admitted.  
Uh, oh, Jo Ann's facial expresstion said to the others.  
"What was it about, bro?" Wild Card asked.  
"Not locking the door in the bathroom," he sighed.  
"Why is that so important?" his twin asked.  
"It was...embarrassing..." Bob seemed reticent to talk about it.  
"First off...did you walk in on her, or did she walk in on you?" Jo Ann asked.   
"She walked in on me...and nearly had a coniption..."  
"Did she apologize?" Ray asked.  
"She stammered an apology and then started yelling..."  
"Well, Ah think ya both need ta apologize ta each other;her fer walkin' in on ya, and you fer not havin' tha door locked. Jest tell her that ya'll keep the bathroom door locked in tha future," Turbo advised.  
"She seemed really shaken...now is not a good time..." Bob sighed.  
"Let me talk ta her. Whar is she? Ah'll vid-window her now an' talk ta her."  
"Turbo -- she'll get really mad that I told you..." Bob sighed, "I feel like I'm married or something..." he groaned loudly.  
You WISH! Jo Ann thought. Out loud, she said, "Please, Bob. This needs to be patched up as soon as possible. The best thing to do is to talk it over with her, and apologize for leaving the bathroom door open. Will you please, at least, try? Because you love each other?"  
"Once she has calmed down," Bob agreed. "I can't beleive this is getting to her..."  
"Everythin' will work out fine, Bob. You'll see," Turbo smiled.  
"It's just kinda petty; isn't it?" Bob sighed, "She's geting all neurotic for nothing!"  
Jo Ann looked to Wild Card. Used to, she would worry about the same thing that Dot was upset about now, although it had never happened. Now that she was married, walking in on Wild Card's shower did not bother either of them one bit.  
"I mean -- what's a little nudity for the User's sake!!" Bob declared.  
Just what I was thinkin', bro! Wild Card thought. He looked over at his bride.  
AndrAIa sighed. This wasn't the kind of news the conspirators wanted to hear...  
"Turbo; what can I do?!" Bob asked his old friend.  
"One word, Bob: Propose," Turbo answered.  
"What?!" he gasped.  
"Turbo's right," Mouse said. "Whatcha do is take Dot ta some fancy resturant, say, as an apology. Then, when she's in a good mood again, propose. It'll knock her off guard. An' be shore ta tell her how much ya love her, an' what she means ta ya."  
Bob looked at them both and chuckled, "You're joking -- right?!"  
"No," Turbo and Mouse said together.  
"It' worth a try, isn't it?" Matrix asked.  
Bob blinked a couple of times. Propose?! to Dot?! What if she said no?! "But...we haven't been together that long..."  
"Well, at least, take her to the fancy resturant," Jo Ann said. She looked hard at the others. They were rushing things a bit too much.  
Bob had looked frightened at that prospect; but dinner was a perfectly acceptable alternative.  
"But have tha ring on ya, in case things look like she would accept yer perposal," Mouse added.   
"Mouse!" Jo Ann groaned.  
"What is this - a match-making society?!" Bob asked.  
Jo Ann and the others nearly panicked when they heard this. Turbo's body language said, "Keep calm."  
"What; am I right?" Bob narrowed his eyes in suspision.  
"Uh...no..." Mouse gulped. She looked to Turbo for help.  
Bob turned to Jo Ann, "Is she lying to me?"  
Jo Ann could not answer. If she said "no", Bob would know for sure that Mouse was lying. She could never keep secrets from Bob. But if she said, "yes", their cover was blown and Bob would have to be told the whole truth. There was no easy way out. She, too, turned to Turbo for help.  
Turbo coughed, "Bob; whats wrong with proposin' to the gal? Ya love her, doncha?"  
Now, Jo Ann and Mouse looked to Bob.  
The Guardian sighed, "I...love her...but..."  
"'But', what?" Turbo asked.  
"I'm afriad of losing her again..." he sighed.  
"That's why ya should propose ta her, Bob!" Turbo said.   
"It's not that simple..." Bob sighed, "she seems almost shy when it comes to commiting to me...we...lost each other before and were afraid to admit our feelings before..."  
"We Matrixes aren't that good with feelings..." Matrix explained.  
Oh, User! Where is Cupid when you really NEED him! Jo Ann thought.  
"Exactly!" Bob agreed, "I don't wanna scare her off."  
"Bro, you ain't gonna git anythin' productive with her done if'n' ya don't make tha first move!" Wild Card said. "Proposin' is really easy. All I done was ta git a bunch o' prism blossoms an' use tha ring fer a holder. Jo found tha ring, an' I propsed. It's that easy!"  
"'Productive'?!" Mouse snickered quietly.  
Jo Ann smiled, remembering that night, when Wild Card had got on bended knee and prososed marriage to her.  
"Hey," she said. "It worked, didn't it? I'm his wife now, aren't I?" Jo Ann smiled at Bob, hoping to encourage him.  
"Yeah...but..." Bob sighed.  
"Go ahead, Bob!" Matrix said. "Do it!"  
"What is this; peer pressure?!" the Guardian laughed, "Have you seen Mike's Megabyte impression?" he tried to change the subject.  
"No," Matrix said. "And personally, I don't want to seeit."  
"Okay...fine...it was nice chatting to you guys..." Bob started to move away.  
Jo Ann looked to Turbo. "Please, do something!" her eyes said.  
"Sit down, 452!"  
Stunned by the tone in Turbo's voice, Bob obeyed.  
"Ummm...yes, Turbo?"  
Jo Ann was impressed. Turbo was so authoritive, that sometimes, it was easy to forget how friendly he really was.  
Bob looked at Turbo and to everyone in the room. "Yes? What do I have to do?"  
"Propose to Dot," Turbo smiled.  
"Tur-BO! That's personal!"  
"Bob, please," Jo Ann pleaded with her brother-in-law.   
"We just want you and Dot to be happy. Don't ask me how I know --call it these strange powers of mine-- but you won't lose her, nor will she lose you."  
Bob sighed and dropped his head into his hands.  
Jo Ann got up and moved over to Bob. She put her arm around his shoulder.  
Bob looked up and sighed.  
"Bob..." Jo Ann began, looking at him with sad, loving eyes. She cared very much for her "brother", and wanted him to be happy.  
"Yes, Jo Ann?"  
"Please, ask her. Neither of you are going to lose the other." the User Guardian kissed his cheek and gave him a loving, sisterly hug.  
"Look...we'll see...alright?"  
"Okay," Jo Ann smiled. This was the best they were going to get from him, right now. It would have to do.  
Bob left Al's shortly after.  
"It's all up to Bob and Dot, now," Jo Ann sighed.  
AndrAIa sighed, "Maybe we should talk to her?"  
"Let me do that," Turbo said.  
"Okay..." AndrAIa sighed.  
"What do we do, now?" Hex asked. She was a bit disappointed that she and Scuzzy would not be spying on Bob and Dot in the bedroom. It was not nessessary, now.  
"Wait and hope!!" the game sprite grinned.  
"Alright," the ex-virus sighed.   



	3. Cupid Conspirisy, Part 3

Cupid Conspirisy, Part 3

* * *

Dot was busy with paperwork when the vid-window from Turbo appeared.  
"Howdy, Dot!" Turbo smiled.  
"Oh...umm; hi Turbo!" Dot glanced up from her typing.  
"Could Ah talk ta ya fer a bit?" he asked.  
"Ummm...yeah -- sure..."  
"Do ya love Bob?" Turbo came right out and asked her.  
Dot nearly fell backwards out of her chair. "What?"  
"Do ya love Bob?" Turbo repeated paiantly.  
"What kind of a question is that?" Dot asked.  
"Somethin' Ah want ta know."  
Dot chuckled, "I guess...I -- yeah, I guess I do..."  
"If'n he proposed sometime soon, would ya marry him?"  
"What is this; twenty questions?"  
"Dot, Ah want ta know where ya stand with Bob. If'n he prososed ta ya sometime in tha near future, would ya marry him?"  
Dot blinked hard, "I...I...I would...seriously consider it..."  
"Ah should hope so!" Turbo smiled. "He's a good fella."  
"Yeah -- but we haven't been together that long..."  
"You've been together longer than Wild Card an' Jo Ann," Turbo pointed out.  
"Yeah...but..."  
"But, what?"  
"You know what, Uncle turbo...I'm scared...Did he put you up to this?"  
"No. And what are ya scared of?"  
"Losing him again -- or finding out that he loves someone else more..."  
"Dot, I have it on tha most trustworthy authority that neither will happen."  
"He did put you up to this; didn't he??!" Dot's eyes flashed.  
"No, he didn't," Turbo smiled.  
"Yeah, right..."  
"No, he didn't. Tha authority Ah have on tha first one is Jo Ann an' her amazing powers. She says that neither of ya will lose tha other. As for tha second one, Bob, himself, admitted that he loved ya," Turbo grinned.  
Dot looked shocked.  
Turbo continued to grin.  
Dot gasped, "He...said...what?!"  
"He said that he loved ya."  
"Oh...I...oh User...I...Bob..."   
Turbo smiled and watched his niece confront her feelings.  
Dot felt a wave of emotions; relief, joy, shock. She gasped "Bob" at various intervals.  
"Prehaps ya should talk ta him," Turbo suggested.  
"Yeah...maybe..." she whispered, still stunned. "Look -- um...Uncle turbo -- I have to go...I -- er...I have a...meeting; yeah, thats it -- a meeting..." Dot said.  
"Of course, Dot," Turbo smiled. "Ah hope yer meetin' goes well."  
"Umm...yeah...thanks...I have to go. To the meeting."Dot smiled.  
"'Bye, Dot." Turbo went to report to the other memembers of the Cupid Conspiricy.  
Dot ran out of the PO. "Cancel all my meetings for the rest of the second!!" Dot yelled to Phong as she ran past him.  
"Of course, Dot," Phong replied. This was so unlike Dot! he thought.  
Dot snatched her zipboard and flew out. How could she have been so mean earlier?!  
Back at Al's, the Cupid Conpiritors waited for any news on Bob and Dot.  
Turbo's vidwindow appeared.  
"WELL?!" Mouse and Matrix demanded.  
"Ah got her ta a least think about exceptin' Bob's proposal, should he make one," Turbo smiled.  
"You did!!!" AndrAIa squealed with delight.  
"That part's over. Now, we have to wait for Bob to propose and Dot to accept," Jo Ann said.  
Andri giggled happily.  
"Easy, Andri," Jo Ann cautioned. "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Bob hasn't proposed, yet."  
"He will..."  
  
Meanwhile, Dot sped around mainframe, trying to find Bob.  
  
Bob, meanwhile, was sitting in Floating Point Park, thinking about what Turbo and the others had said. He got out a ring that he had been saving for that very special day, when he would ask Dot to marry him. He looked at the sparkling diamond, with an icon carved into the crytaline surface.  
"Who's that for?" came a familer voice from behind him. A voice using an unusually teasing tone.  
Bob blushed and tried to hide the ring. But Dot had seen it. He brought it out, smiling, and looking very shy.  
"Well? Who's it for, m'love?" Dot let the tenderness that she felt in her heart into her voice and face.  
Bob took a deep breath to steady his nerves and prepare for what he was going to say.  
"Dot...will...will you...marry me?" he asked, going on one knee. The classic position of romanic proposals.  
Dot dropped down onto her knees to be level with him, tears forming in her eyes. She looked into his eyes and nodded, her throat choking up with tears.  
"Yes, Bob..." she finally whispered, reaching out to touch his face... "Yes -- I will..."   
Bob smiled. He drew her to him in a long embrace, kissing her lips deeply.  
Dot wrapped her arms around him, one hand running its way through his long hair. "I love you..." she whispered.  
"And I love you..." he whispered back.  
Tears of joy started to fall down Dot's face, and she hugged Bob tighter. "I never dared hope to be this happy..."  
"Me either..."  
The intimate moment was shattered by an annoying voice.  
"WEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL, please tell our viewers if this is what I'm led to believe it is? Are the COMMAND.COM and the Guardian finally going to 'tie the knot'?!"  
"Two words for you, Mike;" Dot smiled, "GO AWAY!!"  
Dejected, Mike left the park.  
Dot stared. He had listened to her!! "Did you see that?!" she asked Bob.  
Bob just nodded. He was as stunned as she was!  
Dot wrapped her arms around Bob, burying her face his his chest; allowing herself her tears of joy.  
Bob stroked her hair and held her to him, almost afraid that this was all a wonderful dream.  
Dot just held onto Bob like a life-line; afraid she wake up in Megaframe -- alone again.  
After awhile, Bob said, "Let's go to Al's."  
Dot lifted her face from his chest; it was still tear-streaked. "Why?" she asked, puzzled.  
"I think there are some match-makers who will want to know the outcome of their efforts," Bob smiled and winked.  
Dot laughed softly, "Let's go. But lets play a little trick on them!" she whispered into his ear. A smile crossed his face.   
"That's mean...but okay..."  
  
Back at Al's, the Cupid Conspiritors waited. This just had to work. It just had to!  
A tearful Dot entered Al's. She turned to the waiter;  
"Get me something strong. I need a drink.." she voice quivered with barely muffled tears.  
"Oh, no..." Jo Ann whispered. Had they failed?  
Dot took the drink and swallowed it all hard. She wandered over to the conspirators.  
"Hello..." her voice seemed sad.  
"Dot, you okay?" Matrix asked.  
"I guess..." She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. Raising her left hand (complete with engagement ring) to her face Dot wiped at the tear that had spilled down her face. She wondered if anyone noticed the ring.  
What was that? Jo Ann thought. She saw the ring, a diamond with a carved icon on it's surface. And right where an engagement ring should be! But why was Dot acting so sad? Jo Ann was puzzled.  
"I guess i'm ok..." Dot sniffled.  
"What happened? Did Bob talk to ya?" Mouse asked.  
Dot let a tear fall from her eyes, "Yes...he did..."  
"And..." Ray said.  
"And..." Dot took a quivering breath in. "And...he asked me to marry him...can you imagine?!"  
"And you said..." Jo Ann asked. But she already knew the answer to that. The ring was there, on Dot's finger. The eyes of the other Cupid Conspiritors lit up in atticipation.  
A smile crossed Dot's tear-streaked face, "I said yes..."  
"ALRIGHT!" Matrix shouted. He grabbed AndrAIa and hugged her. The other two couples followed their example.  
Dot giggled and called, "Alright you can come on in, Bob!"   
Bob walked into Al's, grinning broadly. He put an arm around Dot's shoulder and smiled at his friends.  
"How could you, Dot!" AndrAIa asked.  
"Yeah! That was mean!" Andri cried, tears appearing in her little eyes.  
"I'm sorry..." Dot picked the little sprite up.  
"You mean...the cryin' before...it was all a trick?" Wild Card asked.  
"No; I had been crying -- tears of joy..." Dot confessed.  
"But you acted so sad?" Wild Card was confused.  
"I think Bob knew we were playing match-maker. Right, Bob?" Jo Ann asked, smiling at the Guardian.  
Bob nodded, "Mouse was a littel blatant," he grinned.  
"How?!? What did Ah say ta tip ya off?" the hacker asked.  
"You and Turbo with the whole 'marry her' thing; it kinda gave the game away -- and Jo Ann refusing to answer my question as to whether you were match-making..." Bob grinned.  
"Our intentions where that detectable?" Jo Ann asked.  
"Transparent wasn't the word..." Bob admitted.  
"We have ta improve our sneakiness!" Wild Card laughed.  
Dot squeezed Bob's hand, "You guys? Subtle?! That'll be the second!" she laughed.  
"Only if we were ninjas, huh?" Jo Ann grinned.  
Dot just smiled and wrapped her arms further around Bob. Rarely one for public displays of affection, this simple gesture said more coming from Dot.   
"So, when's the weddin', bro?" Wild Card asked.  
"The date?!" Bob and Dot excalimed in unison; "Haven't a clue!"  
"The organizer?" Matrix said, almost afraid to say it.  
"I don't know," Dot smiled. "I think I'll hire someone..."  
"Who?" Matrix asked.  
"I don't know -- I just know that I want to relax and enjoy my wedding; I don't want to get stressed about details..." Dot smiled  
Jo Ann got up and jokingly felt Dot's forehead.  
"No...she doesn't have a fever!" she announced, still grinning.  
Dot laughed aloud. "Right now, I couldn't care less if Bob and I grabbed two of you as witnesses and ran to the PO and had a quiet little private ceremony..."  
"How private would it be? You just know Mike's gonna show up and announce the whole thing to all of Mainframe," Wild Card said.  
"Mike doesn't even know we're engaged yet!" Bob grinned  
"Has little details ever stopped Mike?" AndrAIa asked.  
"True..." Dot admitted.  
"Think we should go into business as match-makers?" Ray asked.  
"You guys are subtle enough!!" Bob laughed.  
"Who do we know that handles weddings?" Jo Ann asked. "Dot orgainized Wild Card's and mine."  
"Let's just have a small gathering of friends..." Bob suggested.  
"Nothing fancy, "Dot agreed.  
"Okay," Jo Ann said. "But where?"  
"Home!" They both breathed.  
"Uh...'home' as in 'Mainframe', or 'home' as in 'your house'?" Matrix asked.  
"Our house..."  
"What about floating point park?" AndrAIa suggested  
"That's a good spot," Jo Ann smiled. She and Wild Card had been married there.  
"Yeah; but its rather public..."  
"How about the Principle Office, then?" Jo Ann suggested.  
"Hmmmm...maybe...yeah..." Bob looked at Dot.  
"Sure!" Matrix grinned. "It's spacious enough for a wedding, but it's also private!"  
"We need to talk..." Dot smiled at Bob  
"Okay. We'll be right back," Bob smiled.  
Dot hugged her friends and left with Bob  
"What do we need to talk about, Dot?" Bob asked when they were alone.  
"I just wanted you all to myself for a while..." she smiled at him; but he knew she had something on her mind.  
"What is it, love?" Bob whispered in her ear.  
Dot smiled at him. "I just felt kinda pressured in there..."  
"They want us to be happy, that's all." Bob grinned impishly and blew into her ear.  
Dot felt a warm shiver pass through her whole form, and twisted slightly to nibble on his neck.  
"Hmmm...do I taste good, love?" he asked.  
"Unbelievably..." she whispered.  
Somehow, they found each other's lips. Bob gave Dot a long, passionate kiss.  
Dot responded in kind; pouring her whole core into showing Bob just how much she loved him.  
It was long nanos before the two lovebirds parted their lips to look longingly into each other's eyes.  
Once she had caught her breath, Dot smiled warmly at Bob, "Let's just take each nano as it comes; I promise I'll spend the rest of my existance with you..."  
"I'm for grabbing the lot of them right now, heading for the PO and getting Phong to marry us today!" Bob grinned.  
Dot smiled at him. "Fine; just let me reboot into a white dress..."  
"Okay. And I'll reboot into a tux. Then we go get them and head for the PO," Bob smiled back at her.  
"Yes; lets!" Dot smiled; she was normally so organised; it felt fun to be spontanious.  
"REBOOT!" Bob said, tapping his icon. A white tuxedo appeared on him.  
Dot smiled coyly. "REBOOT!" A simple short white dress appeared on her; her hair and make-up perfect, white heeled shoes appeared on her feet.  
"You look beautiful, Dot!" Bob whistled. He smiled at the sprite he loved so much.  
"You look wonderful too, m'love..." Dot smiled back happily.  
"Now, let's go get them. They are probibly wondering whatever became of us," Bob grinned.  
"Actually; they probably think we couldn't keep our hands off each other..." Dot smiled.  
Bob laughed. He offered her his arm as he turned back toward Al's.  
Dot took Bob's arm and proudly walked beside him.  
When they reentered Al's, the first thing Jo Ann and the others saw was the change of clothes. Jo Ann stood up in the booth to get a better look and wolf whistled when she saw them.  
Dot and Bob took their bows; "Come on guys -- reboot!! We're getting married!!  
Jo Ann and the Cupid Conpsiritors grinned at each other.  
"REBOOT!" they shouted as one, tapping their icons. Each rebooted into their best and fanciest clothes. Jo Ann and Wild Card rebooted into their wedding clothes.  
"Queen Jo Ann of the Nile!" Wild Card joked, for Jo Ann's dress was that of an ancient Egyptian queen.  
Dot smiled warmly; "Let's go!! Oh!! Where's Uncle Turbo -- he has to give me away...and little Enzo!"  
"Ryght here, Dot!" said a voice in the room with them.   
Dot turned around and hugged the Prime Guardinan. "This is all your fault, y'know.."  
"Why?" Turbo laughed, hugging his niece back.  
"You were the one who told me he really loved me..."  
"Well, Ah spoke tha truth, didn't Ah?"  
"Yes; but this is still your fault..." she teased.  
"Come on," Bob laughed. "We still have to get little Enzo, Hack, and Slash, and head for the PO."  
"Let's not forget Hex and Scuzzy!" Jo Ann said.  
The group headed out and started to walk down the streets of Mainframe; where they attracted the attention of an annoying little TV.  
"Can this be true?!? Is this really possible?!? Is Mainframe's own Guardian and COMMAND.COM finally going to tie the...knot..." Mike's voice trailed off as he stared cross-eyed at the gun pointing between his eyes.  
"Mike...SHUT UP!!!" Matrix growled, his eye glowing dangerously red, a dark red (V) glowing in the center.  
"Shutting up..." Mike squeeked quietly.  
Dot laughed out loud; "Enzo...yes Mike," she said gently, "We are -- in a private ceremony..."  
"Okay..." Mike squeeked, still cowed by Matrix's manner. (and the eye, and the gun...)  
AndrAIa gently took Matrix's gun away from Mike's face.  
The group went on, leaving a dejected and frightened media sprite behind.  
"Poor Mike..." Andri muttered. "ENZO!!" she yelled, seeing her friend.  
"BOBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!" little Enzo yelled, running forward to tackle him.  
"Not this time, little 'bro'," Matrix grinned. Just as the small sprite ran past him, the huge warrior grabbed him by the neck of his collar, lifting him up in the air. Little Enzo tread air, getting nowhere fast.  
AndrAIa smiled at the little sprite. "You don't want to get Bob dirty..."  
"Why?" little Enzo asked. The others just smiled at him.  
Dot kissed her little brother's forehead. "Bob and I are getting married."  
"MARRIED!" the small, green sprite cried. "ALPAHNUMERIC, BOB! THAT MEANS WE'LL BE BROTHERS AND..."  
Dot laughed warmly and tapped his icon. "REBOOT!!" he yelled joyfully.  
Little Enzo rebooted into a smaller version of Bob's tux.  
"Oh, ENZO!" Andri smiled.  
"You can set him down, now, Matrix," Bob laughed. "We need to get to the PO."  
"Here's a faster way!" Jo Ann grinned. She created a portal.  
Dot felt butterflies form in her stomach, and squeezed Bob's hand.  
As one, the group entered the portal.  
"HEY, PHONG!" Matrix yelled at the top of his lungs.  
Dot winced at the yell; her butterflies really starting to get intense.   
"Yes, Matrix...?" the old sprite asked.  
"Get out the ol' book cause Bob and Dot are getting married ...TONIGHT!" Matrix laughed joyfully.  
"Congratulations, my children." Phong sped off to get his ceremony book. Dot caught Bob's eye. Hoping he wouldn't realise how nervous she felt.  
Bob smiled. He leaned over and whispered in Dot's ear,  
"Don't fret about it, love. I'm nervous, too."  
Dot smiled back at him, "I love you...I am just terrified..."  
"It's okay...so am I."  
Phong smiled up at them.  
"Got the ring?!"  
"Right here!" From somewhere, steel-haired Guardian produced the ring.  
Dot smiled; looking nervous as anything. "Let's do it!!" she smiled.  
"My children, we are gathered here tonight to join this man and this woman in the bond of holy matromony.  
"Do you, Guardian Bob, take Dot Matrix to be your lawfully wedded wife?"  
Bob squeezed her hand. "I do -- forever..."   
"And do you, Dot Matrix, take Guardian Bob to be your lawfully wedded husband?"  
Dot's voice shook slightly as she smiled and whispered, "I do..."  
"Very well. Bob, put the ring on her finger and repeat after me: With this ring, I do thee wed."  
Bob took Dot's shaking hand in his, kissed her palm, and turned the hand to the back. He slid the wedding ring onto Dot's wedding finger.  
"With this ring, I do thee wed..."  
Quietly, Matrix slipped a ring into Dot's hand for her to put on Bob. Phong was surprised, but kept up with the ceramony.  
"Dot, put the ring on Bob's finger and repeat after me: With this ring, I do thee wed."  
Dot turned her hand over so she was holding Bob's. Her voice gained confidence as she looked in his eyes.  
"With this ring," she slipped it onto his finger, "I do thee wed.."  
"Now, with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."  
Bob let out a gasp of joy and took Dot in his arms, kissing her tenderly.  
"YAAHOOO!!!!!!!" Matrix shouted joyfully. The others applauded and added their cheers to his.  
AndrAIa squeezed Matrix's hand.  
Next up: Matrix and AndrAIa, Jo Ann thought. She smirked as she glanced at the renagade and the game sprite. Then she returned her attention to Bob and Dot.  
Dot and Bob finally pulled apart and smiled at each other.  
They turned toward their friends. The Cupid Conspritors renewed their cheers.  
Dot laughed warmly, "I still can't believe it..."  
"Believe it, love!" Bob smiled at her. He hugged her close. Phong began taking pictures.  
Dot hugged the conspirators.  
"Are you glad we did this, Dot?" Jo Ann asked when Dot hugged her.  
"Yes...I am..." Dot squeezed the User Guardian, "sister..."  
"So am I, 'sis'." Jo Ann then turned to Matrix and little Enzo. "This makes you two my brothers, you know."  
"Oh, User!" Matrix pretended to hate the idea.  
Jo Ann giggled and hugged the big man to her.  
"Ya think I'm jokin'?" Matrix teased.  
"I know you are, 'bro'," Jo Ann smiled. She kissed him on the cheek and gave him another hug.  
Matrix picked up Jo and swung her around.  
Jo Ann laughed.   
"What are we going to do for a honeymoon?" Dot whispered to Bob.  
Wild Card had overheard them. He leaned close and whispered, "May I suggest the Fantasy Suite at the hotel in the Super Computer that Jo and I went to?" He grinned at them.  
Dot and Bob turned around to face him. "Is it that good?"  
"Yep! Make all your wildest fantacies come true! We sure did!"   
Dot shot Bob a suggestive look.  
"We just may try it! Thanks, bro!" Bob grinned.  
"No prob, bro!"   
Meanwhile, Matrix had set Jo Ann back down. She turned to little Enzo. "You know, this means you're my brother, too, little guy!" She ruffled his hair.  
"Just what I need!! Another big sister!!!" Little Enzo teased, imitating Matrix.  
Jo Ann laughed, and bent down and kissed little Enzo on the cheek.  
Andri giggled and kissed little Enzo's other cheek.  
Jo Ann laughed. She eyed Matrix and AndrAIa thoughtfully.  
"Whatcha thinking, Jo?" Andri asked.  
"Oh...nothing..." Jo Ann smiled. Except maybe getting Matrix and AndrAIa together, she thought.  
"Tell me!!" the little game sprite begged.  
"Just thinking about getting Matrix and AndrAIa married," Jo Ann whispered in Andri's ear.  
Andri let out an excited squeal that halted all conversation in the PO.  
"Shhh...!" Jo Ann cautioned.  
"Whats so neat, Andri?" the older game-sprite asked her little "sister".  
"Nothing..." the small game sprite smiled, innocent-little-girl-like.  
"Okay..." AndrAIa smiled and went back to Matrix.  
"Next Cupid Conspiritors meeting, we'll have to leave them out, and put Bob and Dot in," Jo Ann whispered to Andri.  
"Neat!!"  
"When Bob and Dot get back from their Honeymoon, of course," Jo Ann continued to whisper to Andri.  
"Yeah..."  
Jo Ann whispered all this to the other members of the Cupid Conpircy, except for Matrix and AndrAIa. She would tell Bob and Dot when they returned from their Honeymoon.  
Dot and Bob were standing around; exchanging hugs with people.  
"We gonna start the conspiricy session without Bob and Dot, love?" Wild Card whispered to his bride.  
"We can, then fill them in later," she whispered back.  
Mouse walked up to Jo Ann and Wild Card, "That is gonna be one intense honeymoon!" She smiled at the happy couple.  
"In the Fantasy Suite? Of course it'll be!" Wild Card laughed.  
Mouse laughed, "Yeah...but do you know how long it took those two just to kiss; thats one helluva a lot of tension built up..."  
"Don't worry. Knowing Dot, the Honeymoon will be about one second! Then, it's back to business as usual," Wild Card smiled.  
"I don't know about that, love," Jo Ann smiled.  
"Li'l miss organized agreed to a spontanious weddin' didn't she? Ah have a feeling they're gonna disappear for a while," Mouse smiled.  
"Not for too long, I hope," Jo Ann said. "Dot's the COMMAND.COM and Bob's the leader of the Mainframe Guardians. They'll need to come back to their duties soon."  
"Yeah...well..."  
"'Well', what?"  
"Nothin'!" the hacker smiled and walked back to the Search Engine she loved.  
After Matrix and AndrAIa, Jo Ann thought, Ray and Mouse. Or Turbo and Monitor.  
Turbo stood in the corner, watching; alone.  
Monitor came in. "What's going on?"  
"Bob an' Dot jus' got hitched," Turbo explained.  
"They...they...did...?"  
"Yep!" Turbo smiled.  
A tear formed in Monitor's good eye, "Oh, Interface..." she whispered.  
"Ah don't think we've met. Ah'm Prime Guardian Turbo," Turbo said, offering his hand.  
"Monitor," she said simply, taking his large hand in her tiny one.  
"Pleased ta meet ya, Miss Monitor," Turbo smiled, gallantly kissing her hand.  
Monitor blushed slightly, unused to such chivalry.   
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too..." she said in her unsure Standard.  
"Where are ya from, Miss Monitor?" Turbo asked.  
"Omega," she told him, all her hate and terror that she had gone through there creeping into her voice.  
"Omega...?" The name seemed to ring a bell with Turbo.  
"The system closest to the Web..." She told him in that same haunted tone.  
"Yes...Ah...know...of it..." Turbo whispered in a halting voice.  
"You do?!" Shock and disgust crept into her tone.  
Turbo nodded, everything that he had heard and read about System Omega coming back to him.   
"But you are the Prime Guardian?! If you knew about us -- why didn't you help us?!" Tears fell down Monitor's cheek.  
Turbo had no answer for the question. Jo Ann noticed them and walked up.  
"It not too late to help them, is it, Turbo?" she asked quietly.  
"The system is nearly..." Monitor searched for the word in their language, "nearly destroyed... my brother was one of the last defenders to die..." her voice was sad and bitter.  
"Turbo, isn't there something you and the Guardians can do?" Jo Ann asked.  
"There is nothing anyone can do, except let that horrible place die!" monitor hissed. "Excuse me; I don't want to spoil your party..." She started to leave.  
"Don't go..." Turbo said. "Maybe there is something we can do..." His thoughts whirled and twisted inside his head as if leaves blown by the wind.  
Monitor pivoted on the balls of her feet. "What...?" she asked.  
One-by-one, Turbo's thoughts fitted themselves into place, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.  
"Turbo..." Jo Ann whispered. Everyone was watching him now.  
"A forced internal restart! It's rare, but it would do tha trick. All we need is tha power of a User ta start it off..."  
Monitor blinked, "What is a 'internal restart'?" she tried out the new words, her accent making them sound strange.  
"As Ah said, it's rare. But it's when tha core is used ta recreate tha conditions of a restart. But the User is tha one that has ta start tha reboot by issuein' tha right commands."  
Monitor blinked. "What would this do?" she asked, listening to him intently..  
"Tha same as an external restart: Activate tha system back-up. Repair all damage ta tha system. Restore all sprites an' binomes through their back-up copies."  
"Status!" Monitor whispered in hope.  
"Yes...But we need a User..." Turbo's voice trailed off.  
Monitor's face held hope for the first time in hours.   
"I thought...Jo Ann was a User..."  
"She is," Turbo smiled.  
"Can't she--?"   
"Our sceintists have been studing Jo Ann's powers for quite some time. They are amazin' -- she has even brought back a dead binome! Ah believe that she can initiate the internal restart without any problem."  
"Oh..." Monitor looked as if she wanted to hug someone.  
"Wait a minute, Turbo!" Wild Card said. "You mentioned that the core was used for this 'internal restart'. Does that mean that Jo Ann has to be in the core to initiate this restart?"  
"Would that be dangerous?" Monitor asked.  
"Not if she's on top of tha system's PO, tappin' tha core's power," Turbo smiled.  
"Thank-you both..."  
"When can we start?" Jo Ann asked, smiling.  
"You...would do this for me?" Monitor was crying now. "Why?!"  
"Guardian protocals," Jo Ann grinned. "But seriously, I want to help. If Turbo says I can help restore your system, then I've got to a least try."  
"Thank-you..." she whispered.  
"Start now?" Jo Ann asked. Turbo shook his head.  
"Tomorrow," he said. "Yore gonna need all yore energy an' strength ta pull off this miracle. An' nobody else can go...jest you an' Monitor. You won't be absorbed inta Omega's system, 'cause yer a User. But anyone else present durnin' tha restart will be reconfigured ta Omega's computer system."  
"What will that do to me?!" Monitor demanded.  
"Restore ya. Give ya back yer eye. Heal all wounds," Turbo replied.  
"My eye..." Monitor blinked again. "Would I remember everything?"  
"Ah don't know. Memory normally does stay with tha sprites an' binomes after a restart. But with a forced internal restart...Ah jest don't know..."  
"If it mean I forget Interface; I'm not going."  
"I could spare the energy now, and seal your memory. You'll remember everthing after the restart," Jo Ann offered.  
"Please..."  
"All right," Jo Ann said. The User Guardian placed her hands on Monitor's temples. She concentrated on creating a strong memory seal on the healer's mind. Blue energy flowed down her arms and into Monitor's mind. In nanos, the seal was in place.   
Monitor looked a little dizzy and reached out to get her balance. She grabbed Turbo's arm.  
"Steady now..." Turbo smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders to keep her from falling over.  
Monitor smiled at him and, spontaniously, hugged him.   
"Thank-you, Prime Guardian..."  
"Ah'm happy that we can help ya an' yore system."  
"I owe a debt of gratitude..."  
"All in a second's work for tha Guardians!" Turbo smiled.  
"Perhaps...but my people have fended for themselves for such a long time..." Monitor had yet to move out of Turbo's arms.  
"Then this will be a new beginin' for 'em. An' a fresh start fer relations between Omega an' tha Guardians," Turbo said.  
"I would," Monitor turned to face the Prime Guardian, "like that very much..."  
Maybe Turbo and Monitor won't NEED the Cupid Conspiritors! Jo Ann thought. She leaned against Wild Card.  
Dot and Bob finally noticed Monitor.  
"Hello, Monitor," Bob smiled. Dot did too.  
"Hello, Interface. Congratulations," her tone was rather frosty.  
Neither Bob nor Dot missed the tone. They exchanged loving looks, then turned back to Monitor.  
"I am...happy for you both," the scarred young woman said; her tone still a little cold.  
"Thank you, Monitor," Dot said quietly. She knew how much the healer cared about Bob.  
"I mean it..." she whispered.  
"I know..." Dot smiled.  
"Turbo," she looked fondly at the Prime Guardian, "came up with a plan to fix Omega..."  
"Ah'm happy ta be o' service ta ya, ma'am," Turbo smiled. He offered her his arm.  
Monitor, surprising herself as much as anyone else, took the offered arm.  
"Shall we go somewhere an' talk? There is much ta discuss..." Turbo smiled.  
"I would like that a lot.."  
Turbo led her to a private office. The others watched them go.  
"Well, all Ah can say is 'Go Turbo!'!" Mouse smiled.  
"And I need to go home and get some rest. I have a tough, busy day tomorrow," Jo Ann said. She laid her head on Wild Card's shoulder.  
Dot hugged Jo Ann. "Thank-you," she took Wild Card's hand, "both..."  
"You're very welcome, Dot," Jo Ann smiled wearily.  
"Well; m'love," Dot turned to Bob, "what are we gonna do tonight?"  
"Do what Wild Card suggested; portal to the SC and start our Honeymoon," Bob grinned.  
"Okay; let me reorganise my meetings for the next little while..."  
"Okay..." Bob smiled. He looked over at Wild Card and Jo Ann.   
Dot said her goodbyes to Jo and Wild Card and went into her office.  
Bob went over to his brother and sister-in-law.   
"Good night, you too..."  
"Good night, bro," Wild Card smiled. He clasped hands with his twin. Bob reached over and gave Jo Ann a final hug and kiss before the bounty-hunter and his bride returned home.  
"You guys are terrible schemers, but I am grateful..."  
"I'm just happy that you two are finally married," Jo Ann smiled.  
"Whaddya mean 'finally'? I never even thought about it until you and Turbo put the idea in my head!" Bob exclaimed.  
"Don't tell me you didn't have that engagement ring before tonight, bro," Wild Card grinned. "I know you, Bob. You bought that ring fairly soon after Mainframe's restart."  
Bob looked rather sheepish, "And if I deny it?"  
"I tell 'em about you gettin' lost in that cave back in the SC," Wild Card grinned mischieviously.  
"You wouldn't!"  
"Oh, wouldn't I?!?" Wild Card continued to grin at his brother.  
"Stop it, Wild Card!" Jo Ann wearily scolded.  
Dot came back in, "Okay; we have one cycle..." she grinned.  
"Well, have fun, guys," Jo Ann smiled.  
"We will..." Dot smiled broadly at them. Then, she realised she hadn't organised someone to take care of little Enzo. "Matrix, AndrAIa; can you guys watch Enzo for me, while we're gone?"  
"Sure," AndrAIa smiled, before Matrix could protest.  
"Thanks!"  
"No prob, Dot!" Matrix smiled.  
Dot and Bob kissed and then he made a portal and they disappeared into the SC.  
"We gotta go, guys," Jo Ann said. "I'm tired, and I'm going to need all the energy I can store up to restore System Omega."  
"Goodnight!" AndrAIa hugged them.  
"Night," Jo Ann and Wild Card said. They left for their apartment.  
"Come on kids," AndrAIa rounded up Enzo and Andri; "Lets go home... its late..."  
"Okay," Andri and little Enzo said.  
"Goodnight Mouse; Ray!"  
"Night," the hacker and the Search Engine replied.  
When everyone else had left, Mouse turned to Ray, "Ah wonder how Turbo and Monitor are gettin' on..."  
"Well, let's just leave 'em alone, luv," Ray smiled. "I'd rather discuss...us..."  
"Sure..." The hacker grinned.  
Ray and Mouse left the Principle Office to go to Al's. Ray knew of a private little booth there that would be perfect for a late-night date.  
"Now y've peaked mah curiosity..." Mouse smiled.  
Ray only grinned.   
They arrived at Al's.  
"Now can ya tell me what's one yoah mind?"  
"Like I said...us..." Ray let his voice trail off as he grinned at Mouse.   
"Wut about us, sugah?"  
For an answer, Ray leaned over the table and gave Mouse a long, passionate kiss.  
The hacker brought her hands up and cradled his face, returning the kiss.  
"How'd you like to do that --and more-- all the time?" Ray asked her when they parted.  
"Whattaya sayin' Ray?" Mouse had a feeling she knew.  
Ray brought out a gold ring. It looked liked Mouse's staisus ring, but there was a diamond where the gold flat top of the other was. Mouse's symbol was carved into the jewel.  
"Marry me?" Ray asked, putting the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand.  
"Ah thought ya'd nevah ask, sugah...'course ah will..."  
They sealed their engagement with another long kiss. When they parted at last, Ray said, "But lets wait for Bob, Dot, and Jo Ann to get back. I want them at our wedding."  
"Of course sugah...Ah wouldn' dream of it..."  
Ray grinned. Quietly, Al's waiter brought them each an energy shake, then walked back to his counter.  
Mouse sighed happily.  
"Now...if we can just get Matrix and AndrAIa married off..." Ray smiled.  
Mouse laughed, "They will...in time..."  
"Soon, I hope, or they'll be the only sprites in Mainframe not married."  
"They've been together a long time -- maybe they like not being married..." Mouse suggested.  
"You know Jo Ann's gonna try and hitch 'em up, luv. And she won't rest until they are. I think she likes playing match-maker."  
"So do ah...but they know their own heart better'n we do..."  
"She'll get 'em wedded, wait and see. She's probibly schemein' to get us married!" Ray grinned.  
Mouse laughed, "Probably..."  
"We just beat her to it, luv!"  
"Don't it feel good...?"  
"Yep!" Ray grinned. He leaned over and kissed Mouse again.  
Mouse got up from her side of the booth and sat next to him.  
Ray pulled her closer to him and continued the kiss.  
Mouse let all her fears melt away and relaxed into enjoying Ray's kiss..  
Three of the four --no, five, counting Turbo and Monitor-- Mainframe couples launching into married life, thought Ray. Two to go.  
Mouse pulled away from Ray for a sip of her drink.  
I have a feeling, the Cupid Conspiricy has just begun, Ray thought as he sipped his own drink.  
"What on yoah mind, love?"  
"Just thinkin' that the Cupid Conspiricy isn't over yet."  
Mouse grinned,"Probably not..."  
"And only time will tell if it is successfull with the rest of it's match-makin'."  
"Ah think Turbo an' Monitor are getting kinda friendly on their own..."  
"It sure looks that way," Ray grinned.  
"Ah'm jest glad she's kept her hands off Bob."  
"Yes. Maybe Turbo will marry Monitor. I hope so."  
"Aren't we gettin' a tad ahead of ourselves? She may have someone back home..."  
"Not in Omega, luv."  
"She might. What about that 'Status' guy she mentioned?"  
"Bob an' Jo Ann knows who he is, I'd wager. But I don't think he's her boyfriend. She was still acting like she wanted Turbo even after she mentioned Status."  
"Ah guess...Ah don't think she was exactly comin' onto him..."  
"We can ask her tomorrow before she and Jo Ann leave for Omega."  
"We should..."  
"All right. Tomorrow, we find out just who Status is!"  



End file.
